In the Guardian  the other day (bought by mistake) there was a bit about 30 odd Dakotas will be flying out of Duxford  to celebrate D-Day.

 

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jan/28/parachutists-to-fill-skies-over-normandy-on-75th-anniversary-of-d-day

2 hours ago, Simplysimon said:

it was sad when the Dakota left West Freugh, it was always nice to see and hear her on a regular basis. it was the same when the range vessel left Portpatrick, could hear the engines throbbing for miles.

 

 

Aquila Maris was on my charge too, as  I was the OiC of that range.  I've got some good photos of Aquila Maris somewhere, as well as ones of the Portpatrick Princess and all the other range aircraft we had.  I left West Freugh about a year before it closed, and could see that the writing was on the wall then.  The odd thing was that I'd gone up there when the range I worked at down in West Cornwall closed.  After Portpatrick I went to run two ranges down on the South Coast, and when I arrived there my reputation for taking on ranges that were likely to close shortly preceded me.  I was nicknamed Jonah before I arrived...

 

 

19 minutes ago, JSHarris said:

Aquila Maris

had forgotten, said to OH about the post and she said 'the Aquila Maris' huh.

13 hours ago, Simplysimon said:

had forgotten, said to OH about the post and she said 'the Aquila Maris' huh.

 

Just scanned an old photo I have of Aquila Maris leaving Portpatrick Harbour.  Still trying to find photos of the Portpatrick Princess, I know I have a couple somewhere.  I found a few of the Devons, the Buccaneer and the Jetstream, and even one of the Andover we used for a few months, but can't find the box that has the other photos, I think it must have been put away somewhere safe when we moved.

 

 

For those interested, Aquila Maris II was a Fairey Marine Tracker, formerly a gun boat destined for the Middle East (hence the tinted glass) and was powered by a pair of twin turbocharged V12 Detroit diesels.   She'd do about 35kts flat out, and was fast enough to water ski behind...

 

Back on an aviation theme, here's an old photo from my flying-for-a-living days, taken at the end of the very last trials Canberra sortie, before WT309 was scrapped (the forward fuselage section is in a museum at Old Sarum, though):